Congress eyes citizenship oath

Washington Times ^ | Friday, March 2, 2004 | By Guy Taylor

[JohnHuang2]

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill heard testimony yesterday about a bill that would codify into law the Oath of Allegiance taken by new citizens and prevent changes to its wording unless made by Congress.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Jim Ryun, Kansas Republican, who said he was reacting to plans by a new citizenship agency to "modify" the oath's language.

[JohnHuang2]

Friday, March 2, 2004

Quote of the Day by dirtboy

[Support Free Republic]

Without your donations, Free Republic would be

Doomed!

Click the photo to see the FedEx ad. FedEx is not associated with Free Republic. It's just a darn cool ad.

And FR is a darn cool site. Please consider making a donation!.

[Squantos]

Gheeeesh.......

[GeronL]

Do you promise, do you double care promise to obey our laws?

[GeronL]

double dare promise////

[Robert_Paulson2]

the "potentate" means the pope, or any religious leader.
I think that needs to stay in place, with all the ayatollah's running around these days.

[truth_seeker]

Muslims lie.

They call it "al Taqiyah."

Don't trust a single one. Until this is over, but it isn't, yet.

[Tredge]

I watched when my parents gave the oath, and though I was very young I remember thinking, "We waited in all those offices and were jerked around by all those clerks, and now all they have to do is say these things and it's over?" My parents had been here for some time and knew American history better than most Americans know it, and yet still they had to raise their hand and recite the oath. It was appropriate and proper that they had to do that.

Changing these words around is masturbation. What do these people hope to change?

The main trouble with immigrants isn't with the ones who undergo the process, but the ones who circumvent it. The immigration problem does not have anything to do with the immigrants who gain their green cards and go through the horrid process of becoming an American citizen.

And the process is horrid! It has nothing to do with testing an immigrant's devotion to their new country. It is polluting - it shows them that for all the good things this country allows it can be as mediocre as the country they came from. Having seen those offices, I can only call them a dead place.

The trucks with camper shells, inside packed 18 immigrants flying across the border, allow new citizens easier than my parents were admitted. We sat in offices for years. Whether or not it was the purpose, my parents underwent humiliations and disregard to become American citizens when they could have easily crossed the Washington/BC border and simply never crossed back.

I perceive there is a fallacy being promoted that coming to America is to come to no country. That coming to America is like looking at a blank sheet of paper and being told to write one's own destiny.

That is not correct. America has a culture, like every other country in the world has a culture. Though we may be at the pinnacle of development it isn't by a lack of any direction. We are definite and singular. One can come to America or go to someplace else. After some 300 years people still prefer to come to America, and it isn't because we market our country well. People can come here and be allowed to write their own story; they can do as much or as little as they please and not receive a punishment for those choices. Whatever the twists of our times, that is still our creed.

[FITZ]

Taking the current oath, new citizens "renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate"

I wonder why we accept so many dual citizenships --- especially those of a neighboring country who culturally and politically wish to belong to that other country.

[B4Ranch]

I'd like to see something about "mandatory military service" for citizenship qualification.